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Kurt Vonnegut
' Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.' (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer. His works, such as Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973), blend satire, gallows humor, and science fiction. As a citizen, he was a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a pacifist intellectual, who often was critical of the society that he lived in. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association. The New York Times headline at the time of his death called him "the counterculture's novelist." Tossup Questions # In a story by this author, Helene and Henry Nash fall in love when they meet as actors in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire, then ask variants of the title question as they are cast as lovers in other famous plays. He used the term "mouse-traps" to describe the twist endings in his stories, such as "Who Am I This Time?" He wrote a story in which Nancy McLuhan is kidnapped by the "Nothinghead" Billy the Poet, who refuses to take "Ethical Birth Control" drugs. He wrote a story that culminates in a levitating dance between a ballerina named the Empress and the title character, a kid with above-average intelligence who is killed by the Handicapper General Diana Glampers. For 10 points, name this author of "Welcome to the Monkey House," "Harrison Bergeron," and Slaughterhouse 5. # In one short story by this author, a Suicide Hostess is abducted by Billy the Poet. A collection titled for this author's story "Welcome to the Monkey House" also featured a world where all talents are equalized in "Harrison Bergeron". One of his characters fantasizes about waking up naked next to Montana Wildhack; he wrote of that ophthalmologist from Ilium, New York being abducted by aliens from planet Tralfamadore and becoming "unstuck in time." This author devised ice-nine, which can freeze the whole world, and Kilgore Trout appears throughout his work. For 10 points, name this American author of Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse Five. # In a novel by this author, blue paint that peels off the canvas is used in a painting by Rabo Karabekian. In another of his novels, most people are either part of the army or the Reconstruction and Reclamation corps, both of which do absolutely nothing. Bluebeard and Player Piano are by this author, who also wrote about false karasses like Hoosiers, and the manufactured religion Bokononism. In his Breakfast of Champions, Kilgore Trout is set free. This author created ice-9 in Cat's Cradle, and wrote about a character who becomes "unstuck in time", Billy Pilgrim. For 10 points, name this science fiction writer of Slaughterhouse-Five. # In a novel by this author, the protagonist becomes so bored with life that he creates advertisements that read "Don't kill yourself, call" the title character, whose fortune is coveted by the lawyer Norman Mushari. Another novel by him follows a character who becomes a teacher at a prison run by the Japanese warden Hiroshi Matsumoto, and then becomes warden himself. Besides writing about Eugene in (*) Hocus Pocus and Eliot in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, this man wrote a novel which combines the narrator's description of a Bokononism with the narrative of Felix Honikker, inventor of ice-9. For 10 points, name this author of Cat's Cradle, who created the "unstuck in time" Billy Pilgram for his novel Slaughterhouse-Five. # This author graded a number of his own works, giving the present work a C, in his Palm Sunday. He created a character who is the only man to ever send fan letters to the author of works used as filler in pornographic magazines. This author, who created devoted Kilgore Trout fan Eliot Rosewater, wrote of Pontiac dealership owner Dwayne Hoover in Breakfast of Champions. In another of his novels, the main character becomes unstuck in time and travels to the planet Tralfamadore. For 10 points, name this American novelist of Slaughterhouse-Five.